First-foot
On the eve of the New Year, a first-foot man of the family's, the elder man, would take “Chichilaki” and concave wooden platter full of special attributes out of the house to a wine cellar or some other more distant stall in the years and sleep there himself. On the morning of the New Year, at dawn, when the shooting of rifles broke out in the village celebrating the event, the first-food man would hold the platter, which contained a foxtail millet with and an egg on top, as a symbol of life, and the “chichilaki”, and would walk around the yard saying prayers. Them he would come to the house, knock three times on the door and say three times: "Open the door for me." The housewife, dressed in white, would answer from the closed door: "Who are you, what do you bring?" The first-foot man would answer three times: "Mercy of Saint Basil, peace of the family, gold, silver, increase of cattle, presence of silkworm" and similar blessings.
After entering the house, the first-foot man with the “chichilaki” in his hand, sowing seeds of foxtail millet around, would go round the house and pray. At the end, the first-foot man would put the “chichilaki” on the shelf, put a bowl next to it and set at the New Year's table for the celebration feast. The table was full of different dishes including boiled pig's head, pies, Khachapuri (traditional Georgian pie with cheese), fruits, sweets and many others. After that, the family members could get up and join him.
On the morning of the New Year, the first-foot man would enter the wine cellar for the first time, where he had left in advance the basket with New Year's pies. He would take the basket, hit the wine press and call out: "Chqim mamuli khargelia, shkhvam mamuls furcelia” (let my house be full of wealth and houses of others be poor). Where they had their own vineyards, the first-food man would say: “Chkimi kurzeni tiania, shkhvash kurzeni furcelia” (let my vine be full of grapes and vines of others be full of leaves).
After that, children would approach the press, hit it with sticks and repeat the first-foot man’s words. From the cellar the first-foot man would come to the piggery and pray for the well-breeding of pigs. At the end, the first-foot man would throw high the small pies and the children would pick them up – whoever grabbed the most, would be the winner that year.
